Mulching blades and baffles

[oxotnik]

I have ZD28 with RCK72 deck and want to install Gator mulching blades... dealer is saying that I have to install their mulching kit (baffles) $450...
Did anyone installed just blades and close the chute? Will it work, OK... I can not justify buying baffles for that price....

 

[Eric McCarthy]

I have Gator blades on my Toro Proline walkbehind and I'm kinda biased with them. They work great if you keep the grass cut short and mow often but if it gets tall and thick they will cut but you just struggle bad mowing with them in the nasty stuff. Don't do well in tall grass what so ever.

 

[ipz2222]

baffles??? I suppose you mean a chute cover to keep the grass in to mulch it up??? I made mine from a piece of rusty sheet metal. Cut a bunch of 3/8 holes to let some of the air out but still keeps most off the grass in. Works great.

 

[rednecklimo85]

The baffles are designed to fit the blade arc. Keeps the grass in closer contact with the blades. Can you buy just the baffles from Kubota? Does anyone offer a mulch kit besides Kubota? If you can buy just the baffles I'd say buy just the blades and see what happens. Worse case scenario you have to buy the baffle kit. It seems to me that people buy gator blades for all kinds of stuff with out buying baffle's or even mulch plugs.

The cheaper version of my mower with a stamped steel deck offers a mulch kit that comes with mulching blades and a cheap plug for something like 60 bucks. Mine is a fab deck and that mulch kit was $130 but it's true gator type blades, bolt in steel plug, baffles etc. Which works out really nice because I can leave the discharge flap off and get in real close to stuff and not worry about debris punching thru a cheap plug.